Eccles Cakes Recipe

Ingredients

For the quick flaky pastry

• 175g (6oz) butter
• 225g (8oz) plain flour
• little cold water, to mix

For the filling

• 25g (1oz) butter
• 100g (4oz) currants
• 100g (4oz) sultanas
• 25g (1oz) mixed peel
• 85g (3½oz) light, soft brown sugar
• zest 1 lemon and 1 orange, plus 1tbsp orange juice
• pinch cinnamon
• egg white, to glaze
• caster sugar, to sprinkle

Method

1. Make the pastry. Weigh out the butter, then freeze in foil for 1 hour. Sift the flour into a bowl, then use the foil to hold the butter. Grate it into the flour using a coarse grater. Add a little water, around 3tbsp, to form a dough. Don't use your hands, but mix in with a flat-bladed knife. Pat into a round, then wrap in clingfilm and chill for 45 minutes.

2. Put all the filling ingredients in a pan, cook gently for 5 minutes and allow to cool. Roll out the pastry to the thickness of a £1 coin, cut out circles using a 10cm (4in) cutter - re-roll the pastry as necessary. Brush the edge of each pastry round with a little water, place 2 heaped tsp of filling in the middle of each, then close the ends up and pinch together, turn the cakes over and pat them down gently to flatten them, until the fruit becomes visible through the pastry. Chill for 20 minutes. Heat the oven to 200 C, 180 C fan, 400 F, gas 6.

3. Lightly beat the egg white until frothy, then glaze the tops. Cut 3 small slashes in each cake, sprinkle with caster sugar, and bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown and bubbling. Serve warm or at room temperature with Lancashire cheese.